Top ten: Small-screen b!tches

[Cheap21]

Tanya Turner! Now THAT was a bitch

[SFK]

"Joan took Alexis seriously and it showed"

Absolutely. She often had a LOT going on visually, and it was like a symphony watching her work a hat, a stole, a pocket book, gloves, a cig... even some real-life smokers are awkward smokers on screen, they don't know how to judge the drags and the lines, but Joan was a pro at that. Diahann Carroll was obviously not a smoker IRL. And I think of how great she looked stroking a letter opener behind her tusks desk.

[DRW50]

Donna Mills also took a lot of care of Abby. I believe she did her own makeup, as the makeup people made her look bad. She was the major reason why Abby did not know about Val's babies being stolen for some time, and why Abby was the one who told Val the truth. She also left when she realized the show was not writing properly for Abby.

A lot of people think all it takes to be a soap bitch is to toss off sneery one-liners and sleep around, but you have to actually care.

[Sylph]

A symphony. I like that definition.

[alphanguy74]

I Love Donna Mills, but darn if Julie Harris deserves some honorable mention here. Look at the dressing down she gives Abby at :42:

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And the best scene of all, this made my heart jump out of my chest the first time I watched it (I think i was 16):

[DRW50]

Julie Harris was a wonderful actress, but I had a hard time with Lillimae. I think my favorite episode with her was her first, the one about mothers. That and when yummy Ben put her in a headlock.

[SFK]

The mere mention of Lilimae reminded me of something. Have you guys seen this? @3:50, so *DEAD*

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[DRW50]

That Lillimae scene is priceless.

I'm so happy they had the Abby scale quote. And the Olivia smashes up the room scene, made even more hilarious by their obvious reluctance to really break much of anything.

Laura's video, one of my favorite KL moments, was great too. And they recreated the opening credits, I love it.

And I'm reminded of how much I disliked those contrived and showy speeches from Karen ("I'm proud to be a Pollyana") and especially Valene (let's make Laura's funeral all about ME ME ME ME ME).

[Sylph]

She plays a good "witch": in your pic as Mother Mohiam and also Charal in The Battle of Endor:

[Sylph]

So... I was wondering, and this is probably a dumb question... If I understood correctly, you went to drama school? Or I got it wrong! Nevermind, I just want to ask: do they teach you how to deal with props? Is special attention given to them at one point in time?

[SFK]

Ummm, yes and no, but not really. How's that for an answer? I mean, for emotional purposes, yes, but for stylistic purposes which I think is more to the point of your question, no. That sort of "finishing school" approach ended in the earlier part of the 20th century when acting went from very studied and mannered to more raw and naturalistic. Whether you're doing a scene for class or a full production, you're always told to become familiar with your props. Just like if a scene takes place in your character's bedroom, we want the audience to believe that so you have to own that space as the character would. So say a script specifies that your character always carries around his favorite umbrella that his dead grandpa gave him, the actor will probably want to start working with an umbrella very early on in the rehearsal process because the character most likely spins it, twirls it, balances it on the tip of his finger almost subconciously in a way unlike someone who only grabs their umbrella when it rains. Just like you'd want to practice smoking if your character smokes and you do not.

Now if you're doing a Restoration play for example, some time will be spent working on the style, the way people move and accentuate their words and movements with fans and handkerchiefs and walking sticks. That's something that certain actors just have a natural flair for. That's the Joan Collins thing we're talking about. Of course it can be practiced and improved, and Joan herself is probably great at it because of her love for movies growing up in the '30s and '40s when everyone on screen walked around looking like Alexis. But in a nutshell, no, there isn't class time devoted to how to "properly" hold your cigarette or anything like that.

ETA: That was long-winded, I hope it answered your question!

[EricMontreal22]

It's a different kind of character.

Forgot all about Diana Rigg in Mother Love! LOVE it--I need to track that down.

When I was a theatre major it was the same thing--you deal with props on a "need to know" basis, there wasn't a specific class for it, LOL, though I know some older more formal classes *do* have that. It's like accents--many of the classical schools have specific accent classes but (for better and worse) most teachings now will only get into that depending if it's needed for your scene work or a role you're doing.

[Sylph]

That was fascinating! And is in agreement with my previous thoughts on the matter. Thank you!

And as for accents... That's another thing I have a "thing" for. In the UK, Eileen Atkins does not like the newest trend of encouraging young actors to retain their regional accents. She believes that Estuary English is "ruinous" for British drama. More here, here and here. Nothing like RP.

[EricMontreal22]

Interesting to read--I actually had heard that was a change that was coming (now that, say, it's not the death of your career at the BBC to have a Welsh accent, for example)--people were sick of the standardized UK tv accents.

[Sylph]

I don't know what would they then say for German newsreaders! If I'm informed well, they have to know the language well (grammar and all) and have an appropriate voice to do the job!

But the "death" of RP saddens me, it's the most beautiful of accents.